The present disclosure relates to data access and management, and more particularly to data access and management using, at least in part, GPS-based data.
To process and manage objects using business applications, a database, maintaining data records/sets holding information about the objects, requires a key to identify these objects. A challenge for users is to map the objects to the key used in the database to ensure that the data the user retrieves and/or writes back to the database is associated with the correct object of interest. Typically, objects (e.g., real-life, or tangible, objects) can be labeled or may otherwise include identifying information to enable accessing the correct data record associated with the object of interest.
For example, one way to identify objects is by tagging them using a radio-frequency identity tag (RFID). In such situations, an RFID transmitter is attached to the real life objects, and a device (e.g., a mobile device) identifies the key of the RFID transmitter, which can then be associated to a data set/record in a database. To use RFID technology as a way of identifying objects requires that RFID transmitters be attached to the object, resulting in extra costs. Also, it may sometimes be undesirably or not possible to attach transmitters (or other types of tags) to the object. For example, attaching tags may make it difficult to subsequently locate the tags and read them using a reading device (especially if the reading device is large or bulky and cannot be easily situated to properly receive the data from the RFID transmitter/tag). Moreover, tags can wear off, and can also get removed accidentally or intentionally.
Another way to tag and identify objects is by labeling them with an identification number (which may be encoded as a barcode). In such situations, the labels have to be produced (often in advance) and they have to have an identification number that is consistent with the one used in the database. Furthermore, as with RFID tags, it may sometime be undesirable or not possible to have a label attached to a real life object. Labels can wear off, become unreadable, or can get removed accidentally or intentionally. When a label gets removed or the identification on it become unreadable, it becomes difficult to determine what information was previously associated with the label, and to reproduce a label with the correct identification information.